Open verdict on Woolmer death

Monday 29 January 2007 00:11 BST

An inquest into the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer has ended in indecision after a Jamaican jury was unable to determine the cause of death after hearing testimony from more than 50 people over five weeks.

The 11-member panel deliberated for about four hours before returning an open verdict.

The jury foreman, who refused to give his name to reporters to protect his privacy, said the panel felt there were too many contradictions to reach a clear conclusion.

"We came to an open verdict because the evidence presented to us was very weak. There were too many what-ifs and too many loopholes," he said shortly after the panel ended its deliberations.

The jury, which heard witnesses and medical experts testify over five weeks, was expected to decide whether anyone was responsible for the death.

According to police it will now be up to Jamaica's coroner, Patrick Murphy, to decide the cause of death. He did not speak to reporters after closing the inquest.

Police authorities and attorney Jermaine Spence, who represented the International Cricket Council at the inquest, also did not speak to reporters.

The inquest in the Jamaican capital was triggered by wide-ranging speculation about what killed the 58-year-old coach, who was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room a day after his heavily favoured team was ousted from the Cricket World Cup on March 17.

Four days after the former England cricketer and Warwickshire coach died at a hospital, Jamaica's pathologist, Dr Ere Sheshiah, ruled he had been strangled, setting off a high-profile murder probe that took DNA and fingerprint samples from witnesses including players from Pakistan and other cricket squads.

But Jamaican police called off the investigation three months later, saying three independent pathologists from Britain, South Africa and Canada concluded that the coach died from natural causes, most likely heart disease.